The Howard Hawks Blogathon is a celebration of the life and career of director Howard Hawks, and is hosted by the blog Seetimaar. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the website.Sergeant Yorkseen on TV @ TCM5.10.13I imagine that for as long as man has waged war on each other, there have been individuals with moral objections to the practice. It's certainly not hard to imagine why. Someone once described war as a failure of the imagination, and when one considers how long some conflicts h... read more »
The Mary Astor Blogathon is an event honoring the life and film career of actress Mary Astor, and is hosted by Tales of the Easily Distracted and Silver Screenings. Click on the links for a complete list of participating blogs.Dodsworthseen on TV @ TCM4.14.13"What a drag it is getting old," the Rolling Stones sang, and brother, ain't that the truth. It's nothing you can control, try as you might. In your head, you may still feel like you can mosh like a madman and rave till dawn, but one day, you wake up... read more »
All Quiet on the Western Frontseen @ Landmark Loews Jersey Theater, Jersey City, NJ4.27.13I liked All Quiet on the Western Front well enough, but something about it bugged me, and the more I think about it, the more it bothers me. I'll get to it in a minute.Okay, so this is a war movie, right? And it's fairly ahead of its time too. At first, all I noticed were the usual war film cliches: boot camp, the heartless, hard-ass drill sergeant, being sent to the front lines, the rookies meeting the veterans, th... read more »
The Lost World (1925)seen @ Pavillion Theater, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY4.24.13Dinosaurs! Such lovable critters, aren't they? I vaguely remember seeing those dinosaur bones at the Museum of Natural History as a kid and being blown away by them. I recall reading a young adult book involving modern-day dinosaurs of some kind. That's about all I remember about them from my childhood. They say kids, especially boys, love dinosaurs, and while that's not entirely untrue in my case, I guess it never quite caught... read more »
Here Comes Mr. Jordanseen on TV @ TCM4.18.13First, I should mention that Here Comes Mr. Jordan is badly plotted. The film is about a boxer named Joe who dies in a plane crash, but it turns out he wasn't "supposed" to, according to an afterlife bureaucracy run by the eponymous Mr. Jordan. Joe's wayward soul must then find a new body so that he can fulfill his destiny.On a micro level, there's the matter of the magic saxophone. (Joe is also an amateur musician.) It comes with him to the afterlife and retur... read more »
The Actressseen on TV @ TCM4.4.13I don't recall the first time I ever heard of Ruth Gordon. I suspect the first time I saw her was very likely in Rosemary's Baby, though I didn't know who she was then. I had a teacher in college who claimed she completely identified with Gordon's character in Harold and Maude, even though she was nowhere near as old as Gordon was in that film.Both of these films came in the latter phase of Gordon's career, and I have yet to see her when she was younger, but even so, my i... read more »
Unfaithfully Yoursseen on TV @ TCM4.13.13Like most kids of my generation, I was first exposed to classical music through - what else? - cartoons. Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Tom Jerry, and other television staples from childhood had episodes that used classical music in the score as well as a plot point - from Bugs impersonating a conductor to rid himself of an annoying opera singer, to Jerry disrupting Tom's piano concerto, not to mention all those Peanuts specials where Schroeder played his Beethove... read more »
“The Ten Commandments” pulled off another of its holiday ratings miracles over the weekend, delivering ABC’s best non-sports Saturday since — the last time ABC aired “The Ten Commandments” about a year ago. It also pulled off ABC’s best non-sports Saturday among the younger viewers who are the currency of broadcast TV since the network aired the flick “Transformers” on Christmas Day of 2010. ABC’s 32nd broadcast of “The Ten Commandments,” the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille biblical flick that stars Charlton Hesto... read more »
Mr. Deeds Goes to Townseen @ Landmark Loews Jersey Theater, Jersey City, NJ3.16.13And now, five things I might do if I inherited $20 million, after paying off bills and taking care of my family, of course:1. Travel. Duh. I was hanging out with Andi recently and at one point she was describing some more aspects of her trip to Spain to take part in the Camino walk and she said that it's not all that expensive. The more I think about it, the more appealing it sounds to me, and I think I'd like to give it a ... read more »
Mrs. MiniverRandom Harvestseen on TV @ TCM3.11.13So according to the website Behind the Name, the name "Greer" comes from the Scottish, and is a derivation of "Gregor." It's one of those old-fashioned names you hardly ever see anymore, so perhaps it's only fitting that it's associated with one of the big movie stars of the past - namely, Greer Garson. I can't say I'm too familiar with her, but I do recall having seen her biggest hit, Mrs. Miniver, back when I was working video retail. At the time, I tho... read more »
